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“Are you crazy?” Josh asked him. “I have no idea who your sister is!”

“No, I’m not crazy. Are you? You must be if you thought you could juggle those four girls without getting caught!” Bryan fumed. “I tried to tell Lily what a creep you were. I told her about Elena from the start, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She thought you could do no wrong. Well, maybe once I tell her about the other two girls, she’ll finally believe me about what a jerk you are.”

“Lily? Lily is you sister?” Josh was stunned. It was hard to imagine sweet, tiny little Lily, being related to an ignorant beefcake like Bryan. “How can that be? You don’t even have the same last name.”

Bryan laughed sorely.  “And people say I’m stupid. We have different fathers, moron. Things like that happen in the twenty-first century.”

“You’re really Lily’s brother?”

Bryan snickered sarcastically. “Yeah, genius, I really am. And now that we have that established, there’s just one thing I want to know before I kick your ass. How could you treat Lily so badly? I don’t know why, but she really cared about you.”

“I never meant to hurt Lily,” Josh defended himself, but it sounded lame even to his own ears.

“Don’t give me that bull crap!” Bryan yelled. “You had to know it would hurt her that you had three other girlfriends!”

“It was you!” Josh said, suddenly enlightened. “You told Elena and Nadine about Lily and Jasmine.”

“Yeah, I told them about Lily,” Bryan admitted proudly. “But they already knew about the other girl. I don’t know what any of those girls saw in a puny loser like you,” he continued. “Lily is still in love with you! Even after everything you’ve done. And since she’s too nice to stick up for herself, it’s up to me to defend her. Last night Lily cried her eyes out. Now you’re going to pay. No one messes with my little sister and gets away with it.”

“Are you threatening me?” Josh asked through clenched teeth.

Bryan gave Josh a hard shove. “You catch on fast.”

That was the beginning of the inevitable. A junior standing in the back of the room starting chanting, “Fight! Fight!” Others joined in and before long the whole team, with the exception of Kevin and Jim, were encouraging the brawl. Josh couldn’t walk away now. His reputation was at stake. Even though a part of him knew that Bryan was justified in his anger, Josh pushed him back, with so much force that Bryan stumbled backward and almost fell onto the mat. Bryan tried to throw a punch before he was fully recovered, and only managed to graze Josh’s shoulder with his fist. Josh ducked before Bryan could land a hit. He swung once and hit Bryan squarely in the jaw, splitting his lip.

Bryan was confused for a minute, and Josh took advantage of the momentary distraction to tackle him. In a classic takedown move called the ankle pit, Josh snapped out his hand, grabbed Bryan’s ankle, and lifted it to his waist. He used the captured leg as leverage to force Bryan to the ground. From there, he was able to grab his arm and twist it painfully behind his back, making it impossible for Bryan to strike out at him again.

The fight went no further than that. Coach Kubiak, a tall man with graying hair and an impressive physique, was suddenly in the gym and looming over the brawling teenagers with a stern expression on his face. The hoots of Josh’s fellow teammates hushed to whispers. Josh immediately let go of Bryan’s arm, and the muscular boy stumbled onto the mat. He rubbed his shoulder, but was still glaring at Josh from his spot on the mat. Josh had almost forgotten about his pounding head and aching stomach during the adrenaline rush of the fight. He was starting to feel a little shaky again, and he had almost as much trouble as Bryan when he pulled himself to his feet to face the coach.

“What is going on in here?” Couch Kubiak demanded loudly and with authority. No one replied, so he turned to the team leader. “Hanover?”

“Nothing, Coach,” Josh mumbled and looked down at his shoes.

“Josh and Grant were just warming up a little,” Kevin explained.

It was an extremely lame attempt at a cover up, and the coach wasn’t fooled. “I’m sure they were.” He stared at Bryan’s bloody lip through slanted eyes. “Grant, go clean yourself up.”

Bryan grudgingly obeyed, but made a point of punching the door before exiting the gym. The coach ignored him and turned his attention back to Josh. “Hanover, I’m going to forget about this. This time,” Coach Kubiak told him sternly. “But you better stay out of trouble, kid. You’re my star. I can’t lose you.”

“Right, Coach.”

Practice continued from that point on under the watchful eye of the coach, and there were no further incidents. Bryan emerged from the locker room with his lip swollen but cleaned of blood. Josh wrestled his best and won all of his matches despite the recurring pains in his stomach. At the end of practice, Josh was named captain. It wasn’t unexpected, but he was still excited. He had worked hard for the title the last three years. Everyone on the team offered their congratulations—everyone except for Bryan, who grunted and frowned at the news. When practice was over, and the boys retired to the showers, Bryan wasn’t with them. Josh didn’t think much about it as he slipped out of his singlet and back into his street clothes.

“I’ll catch you guys later,” Kevin said as he pulled on his red and white varsity jacket. “I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got mad homework.”

Kevin strode out the door, leaving Josh and Jim alone in the locker room. Josh combed his hair into place and grabbed his book bag from his locker. He was feeling a little bit better, and when Jim asked if he wanted to stop and get something to eat, it sounded like a good idea. On their way to the parking lot, they noticed Bryan standing in the nearly deserted hallway with one foot propped up against the wall. He had a cigarette behind his ear, though even he didn’t have the nerve to light it inside the school.

“Don’t think you won anything!” He spat. “This isn’t over. You’re going to pay for what you did to my sister!”

“If you shut your big mouth, your lip would heal faster.”

Bryan glowered and moved toward him. Josh dropped his bag in anticipation of another fight. Before either of them could strike, Couch Kubiak appeared from around a corner. He stood there staring at them until he was sure that both boys had gone in different directions. Josh and Jim headed into the student parking lot, but Josh knew his issues with Bryan were far from over. He was proven right when he heard the blaring horn of a car alarm. When he got a clear view of the sports car, he realized that Bryan had taken things to a whole new level.

“Damn it!” Josh swore.

“What’s wrong?” Jim said. Then he saw it too. “Oh shit!”

Josh leaned against his locker and closed his eyes. The codeine he had taken that afternoon was doing nothing to help his pounding head. On top of that, his stomach was still in knots. He felt like someone was stabbing him in the gut, and he was so nauseous he was glad he hadn’t eaten anything all day. Even chemistry had been torture because they were taking their test, and Josh couldn’t talk to Rosa. After class, they had only spoken long enough to agree that he would pick her up at seven for the movie.

“Josh, you look like crap,” Andrea told him casually.

Josh almost smiled. “Thanks, Andy. You always pay me such nice compliments.”

I’m serious,” she told him, frowning. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied.

“Did the cops snag Grant for slashing your wheels?” Kevin asked.

Kevin took off his letter jacket, and shoved it into his locker along with his book bag. He exchanged them for his wrestling singlet and mouth guard. The school day had just ended and the hallway was thinning out. The students were buzzing about the weekend and anxious to get out of school. Jim and Andrea had joined Kevin and Josh at their lockers to chat for a few minutes before practice started.

“No,” Josh told his friends. “They said they couldn’t prove it was him.”

“Do you really think it was Bryan?” Andrea asked.

Jim shut his locker. “Who else could have done it? Elena? She wouldn’t have risked breaking a nail.”

“No, it had to be Bryan,” Josh said. “He must have done it while we were in the showers.”

Josh was still furious about his car. Not only had all four tires been slashed wide open, someone had also keyed the entire left hand side and shredded the soft top.  It was going to be in the shop for days waiting for a new paint job and parts. Fortunately, his father let him borrow his Mercedes, so at least Josh still had transportation. Bryan Grant was going to pay. One way or another, Josh was going to get him back for what he had done. But it would have to wait, at least until the school hallway stopped spinning in circles.

“Josh?” Kevin called, just as Josh grabbed the door of his locker to steady himself. “Earth to Josh!”

“Huh,” Josh muttered. He took a deep breath to try to slow his racing heartbeat.

“We have to get to practice,” Jim told him. “Are you ready?”

Josh grimaced at the thought of rolling around on the mats. “I think I’m going to skip it today.”

Kevin shook his head in disapproval. “Coach won’t be too happy about that. We need all the practice we can get.”

“Well, he’ll have to get over it,” Josh said, annoyed. Who did Kevin think he was, preaching to him? Who was the captain anyway? Josh slammed his locker shut, and immediately regretted it. The clanging metal was like a sledgehammer against his skull.

“Whatever.” Kevin sneered, and shook his head. “But don’t expect us to make excuses for you.”

Kevin stalked off down the hallway without a backward glance. Jim shrugged his shoulders and gave Andrea a quick peck on the lips before jogging after him. Josh immediately regretted his harshness. Kevin was right. He really shouldn’t be blowing off practice, especially not the second practice of the year. Normally he wouldn’t even consider it, but he felt so sick. He planned on calling the coach to explain, but if he had told Kevin the reason he was skipping, he would have harassed Josh even more. The last thing he needed to deal with was taunting and name-calling.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Andrea asked, giving him a suspicious look as she tossed her book bag over her shoulder. “It’s not like you to skip practice.”

“I don’t feel so hot, Andy,” Josh admitted. “I’ve felt like crap for a few days now.”

Andrea reached out and put her hand on his forehead. “You don’t have a fever,” she said with a concerned frown. “But you’re pale as a ghost. Are you still going to go out with Rosa tonight?”

Rosa! Just the thought of her made Josh feel a little bit better. There was no way he was going to miss this date. Not after he had literally begged her to go out with him. If he cancelled, Rosa would never believe it was because he was sick. She would think he had found someone more interesting and she would probably never trust him again. It wasn’t a risk Josh was willing to take.

“I’ll be okay,” Josh assured her, and forced a smile. “I’d show up with an IV in my arm if that’s what it took.”

Andrea snickered. “How romantic.”

Josh chuckled a little too, but it was cut short when a particularly sharp pain cut through his stomach. His doubled over and moaned. Andrea was startled at first, but then grabbed hold of his arm to try to hold him up, which was almost ridiculous. Josh was twice her size. If he went down, he would certainly bring her down with him.  

“Jesus, Josh,” Andrea said, her eyes wide with alarm. “What’s wrong with you?”

“My stomach is killing me,” Josh complained once he had caught his breath.

“The nurse is probably still here,” Andrea said nervously. “Maybe she should take a look at you.”

“Ugh, do you want me to throw up?” Josh asked. “If I have to look at Nurse Wagner’s hairy mole, I’m definitely going to puke. Besides, it was probably just that mystery meat in the hamburgers we had for lunch today.”

He could tell that Andrea wanted to argue with him. After all, she knew very well that he hadn’t even touched his lunch. Josh didn’t give her the opportunity. He looped arms with her and led her to the parking lot where they climbed into his father’s silver Mercedes. Josh was quiet on the ride home, trying to focus on the road instead of his various ailments. When they pulled into the driveway, Andrea checked his forehead one last time. Josh scoffed at her ceaseless fussing.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” she asked.

“I live with the two best doctors in town. My dad is the chief of staff at the hospital,” Josh told her. He didn’t remind her that his parents were always at that hospital and never home. “I think I’ll survive.”

“If you don’t feel better, do you promise to tell them?”

“I swear it on my camera.”

“Well, that’s a promise I know you’ll keep,” Andrea said, and looked a little relieved as she climbed out of the car. “Try to get some rest before your big date, okay? You won’t impress Rosa too much if you throw up in her lap.”

“Don’t jinx me!”

Andrea waved goodbye as she jogged up to her doorstep. Josh moved a little slower down his own walkway. On the way, he stopped at the mailbox and pulled out a large stack of bills and circulars. He flipped through it absently and was surprised to find an envelope addressed to him. In an age of emails and text messages, Josh had never received a letter from anyone, except his grandmother and a few of his other older relatives. The handwriting was nowhere near as neat as his grandmother’s calligraphy style script. The writing was scratched in bright red ink and was almost illegible. There was no return address in the left hand corner, but he noticed the postmark was local.